


'tis the damn season

by peachesnclem



Category: HLVRAI - Fandom, Half life but the ai are self aware, Half-Life
Genre: Background Relationships, Christmas, Christmas Fluff, Domestic, Domestic Fluff, First Christmas, He/Him and They/Them Pronouns for Benrey (Half-Life), M/M, Nonbinary Benrey (Half-Life), The OFC are just Gordon's ex wife and his ex wife's girlfriend
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-20
Updated: 2020-12-20
Packaged: 2021-03-11 00:15:08
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,708
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28136019
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/peachesnclem/pseuds/peachesnclem
Summary: "i got you something, too, gords, wanna know?""Oh, so I can know mine, but I can't know Joshie's?""yeah. high quality feet pics. HD feet pics of your feet, gords, that's your christmas p-"Gordon kicks Benrey off the bed.-christmas w/ the science team & the fam.
Relationships: Benrey/Gordon Freeman, Frenrey - Relationship
Comments: 2
Kudos: 39





	'tis the damn season

**Author's Note:**

> song title is from taylor swift song's 'tis the damn season on evermore.

"good bf benrey knows what he's doing."

"You didn't even know what Christmas _was_ until like, a week ago-"

" _shhhhh_ ," Benrey blows blue Sweet Voice right in Gordon's direction, prompting Gordon to swat it away because Benrey _knows_ he hates it, but it got him to shut up. "lemme explain, it's not a _bomb_ or anything like that, but i can't say 'cus uhhh... gift for 'lil freeman, and you're not him," he explains as he finishes the messy wrapping on the present. Even though it's not well, Gordon couldn't even tell what it was because it was already in a box beforehand which gave no indication whatsoever.

"How can I be sure it's not anything he won't like, accidentally swallow or something? Did you check the warnings? Make sure there's no choking hazards for eight year olds?"

"feetman," Benrey looks at Gordon straight in the eyes with his always deadpan expression, "i _know_ kids. trust me."

Gordon could argue with that easily, but he just shut up and relented. He knew Benrey wasn't going to answer _anything,_ being the master of being extremely fucking vague all the time. He just sighed dramatically and flopped next to Benrey.

"i got you something, too, gords, wanna know?"

"Oh, so I can know mine, but I can't know Joshie's?"

"yeah. high quality feet pics. HD feet pics of your feet, gords, that's your christmas p-"

Gordon kicks Benrey off the bed.

* * *

"Can I put the star on the tree?" Joshua asks, gripping the plastic star in his hand like it's a lifeline. Gordon nods and up Joshua goes onto his shoulders, holding onto Gordon's hand as he leans over and places it right on the top of the tree, it's respectful place. "Benny, turn on the lights!" He says, and Benrey snorts and nods, "sure, 'lil freeman." And then the Christmas tree is alight, all the lights glimmering and Joshua giggles happily.

Gordon puts Joshua down finally once the kid starts squirming, and he pulls the both of them into a hug, "OK! I'm gonna go to bed extra early so then when I wake up Santa will come extra early!" And then he's bounding up the stairs-

"But you haven't even had dinner yet-"

And then his door shuts, leaving Gordon stunned and the two of them looking at each other before they both laugh.

"'s 'lil freeman like this every year?" Benrey asks as he flops down lazily on their couch, the heels of his mismatched sock feet barely touching the floor.

"Last year Audra had him," Gordon explains as he settles right next to Benrey, and the shorter being swings his legs over Gordon's lap, "but I still went. It's not like we separate him from his parents every year, it's just... where we host Christmas, sometimes her home, sometimes here. He doesn't mind."

"that means she's coming over here?"

"Yeah, but don't worry. It's just her, and she's nice, I promise."

Benrey was half expecting a scary ex, one that's really demonic or something that fits the script of a lot of movies involving ex's, where they're just... awful people? He never asked Gordon much about her and he never talked about her much besides when or if she was picking up Joshua from school, stuff that like. Kind of a relief that she's not a scary person.

They settle into a more casual conversation after that, less about ex's and more about just dumb shit. After a round of Mario Kart (or two, Gordon demanded a rematch and Benrey kicked his ass AGAIN), they began very quietly setting up the tree.

"santa's kinda dumb if you think 'bout it, feetman," Benrey says as he pushes a present underneath the tree, "he breaks into your house, eats your food, puts a few presents, or coal if you're bad, then dips. like, what."

"Well, he's not actually... you know... _real,_ " Gordon whispers, "It's just something for little kids to believe in, but off the record I think it's stupid too."

"i think you could be a cool santa. y'know, whack him over the head like that one movie and boom, you're just santa even tho' you just murdered the real dude."

"And deliver over a million presents in the night? Sounds fun, but I'll pass."

"you sure? i'd make a pretty hot mrs. claus."

"Shut up."

* * *

At 7:00 AM exactly, Gordon wakes up to an alarm on his phone and a text. He rolls out of bed, much to Benrey's dismay as he whines from the lack of warmth, and heads downstairs, checking his text. It's one from Audra, saying she's picked up breakfast and is almost there. Right on time, as he finishes freshening up for the morning and making sure he doesn't have morning breath, Audra knocks at the door and he opens it.

She's standing there with a friendly smile and a McDonald's bag. Audra was a little shorter than Gordon, her hair pulled up into a top ponytail and her face tinted a little red from the cold, settling over her dark complexion. "Morning," she says, "Can I come in?"

"Oh- Right, of course," and he steps aside. It's kind of surreal, since this'll be the first Christmas she spends with Benrey _and_ Joshua. Having the ex meet the boyfriend. Weird. It makes him nervous, but he tries not to let that show. "I wasn't sure what your boyfriend would want, so I kinda just bought a lot," Audra admits sheepishly, setting down the packed bag on his table, "I could've waited 'till you woke up, but I didn't wanna miss Joshua opening up his presents."

He notices she's not carrying any, and before he can question there's another timely knock at the door. Audra offers him a smile as she goes over to the open the door, another woman standing there. "Gordon," Audra says as she wraps an arm around the woman's waist, "this is my girlfriend, Candice."

Candice is taller than Audra, but not by a lot. She's tan with dyed dark red hair that's pulled into a low ponytail and wearing a big, striped sweater with ripped jeans and it looks very comfortable. "Hi," she offers Gordon a hand and he shakes it as Audra introduces Gordon.

He sort of thought it'd just be the three of them plus Benrey, but now he's got Candice in the mix but... It's fair, Joshua's already met and befriended Benrey, it's fair he gets that chance with Candice. A heads up would've been nice, though.

"Mama!" Joshua yells as the thumping of his loud feet is heard, and Candice quickly works to get their presents under the tree before he's bounding down the stairs. He almost trips once or twice, but regains his footing and leaps right into Audra's arms. "I missed you!"

She laughs a little, "We haven't spent much time apart, though." Joshua shrugs and then turns his head to Candice. "Hi!" He chirps as he separates himself from Audra, and she smiles at him. "Hi lil' dude, my name's Candice," she holds out a hand, but Joshua completely ignores it in favor of hugging her instead. It's a little surprising to her, but she quickly recovers and hugs him back.

Gordon, deciding that he should probably wake up Benrey, begins heading upstairs. Reaching the top, his phone rings and he picks it up, not bothering to look at the caller.

"Hi Mr. Freeman!" Tommy chirps loudly in his ear, causing Gordon to flinch a little. "Hi Tommy," he replies, "What's up?"

"Well, me a-and the Science Team are getting together, and we've all got gifts for everyone, so we're wondering if we could come over!"

Gordon clicks his tongue in thought. It would be everyone's first Christmas together. He would feel like a complete ass if he just refused, plus he did sort of miss them, though he'd never admit it. He would never hear the end of it from Bubby. All of them couldn't get together as much as they liked to, and after everything they all needed some time away from each other after being with each-other 24/7. Bubby and Coomer got together and even moved in together, Tommy moved in with Darnold, and when Benrey was suddenly a thing again that was a whole fucking. Thing. They all worked through it together and a lot of apologies were said from everyone, and they understood each other. Things were tense between Benrey and Gordon before they went from weird frenemies to friends to friends who shared a bed to just... _lovers._ A weird progression, but it worked for them.

Clearing his throat, he nodded before remembering Tommy couldn't see him, "Sure. Feel free to stay, by the way."

"Awesome! See you s-soon, Mr. Freeman!" And with a click, Tommy had hung up.

Well, now he's lied to Benrey. He told him 'yeah, it'll just be me, you, the kid, and my ex,' when it turned out to be 'me, you, the kid, my ex, my ex's girlfriend, and the entire fucking science gang,' but he also couldn't have predicted it'd get as big as this.

He makes it into their room with no more interruptions and sits right next to Benrey, making the bed dip in a little with this added weight, and begins shaking Benrey. "Wake up."

He gets a snore as an answer, and begins shaking more roughly, which Benrey ignores him and grabs the blanket, cocoons himself in it and rolls away from Gordon.

"Santa's real. And he's eating everything in our fridge, Benrey," Gordon says with as much of a dead-pan tone he can.

"does he got a passport?"

"Asshole!" He swats at Benrey and he finally cracks his eyes open. "fine, fine, i'm awake and in the realm of dickheads named gords feetman," he retorts and rolls out the way of Gordon trying to shove him.

Benrey rolls out of the blanket burrito and stretches like a cat. "So," Gordon starts, "remember when I said it was gonna be just us and the ex?"

"mmmhm. she downstairs?"

"Yes, but so is her girlfriend. Also like, all of the science gang is coming over too. So I maybe but maybe not lied because it just kinda fucking. Happened."

Benrey doesn't look upset, just nods and grins a little. "all my favorite people in one place. you've outdone yourself gords," he gives a lazy kiss to Gordon who allows him for a second before pulling away, "Gross. Go brush your teeth," and then Gordon makes it back into the group downstairs.

Tommy and the others have arrived, and Tommy himself is currently engaged in conversation with the boomers plus Joshua, Sunkist sitting next to him as if she's listening intently too. Then, when Joshua sees Gordon, he separates from the conversation not so gracefully and pretty much plummets right into Gordon's legs. "There's a dog!" He yells loudly, and Gordon nods. "Did you pet her?" 

Joshua nods furiously, "she was very fluffy! And she's also very big! As tall as me. I think I'll steal her," he jokes, and that gets an affectionate laugh out of Gordon. When Benrey joins them, he settles right next to Gordon as he makes his rounds saying hello to everyone, and then the two make it to Audra and Candice.

If Benrey was gonna be recluse, he's certainly given no chance to as Audra brings him into a bone-crushing hug, "I'm so happy to finally meet you!" Benrey's not sure what do, so he hugs back after a second or two of hesitation because this woman is a complete stranger who just hugged him like he was an old friend.

"My name's Audra, and you're Benrey, right?" She says after they separate with a friendly smile on her face, "Gordon talks about you all the time!"

Gordon blushes at that, "I _don't_ -" He tries, but Audra laughs. Her laugh is friendly, welcoming, and what he would expect from a mom, Benrey notes. She kind of just radiates the whole 'I'd break my back for my family and friends' vibe, no 'I'll kill you if you come near my ex' vibe. "He does, a lot, especially when he was telling me that you lived with him and that you'd be here when I came for Christmas." Then she places her hand on her girlfriend's arm, "This is my girlfriend, Candice," and Candice pulls him into a hug that's just as friendly as Audra.

Conversation isn't even awkward, because Benrey and Candice have a lot in common, and one of those traits being that they _love_ pissing off their significant others. They all had the vibe of good friends and not anything else, and it was pleasant, besides both Candice and Benrey speaking in twitch terms sometimes. They both even said 'pog' at the same time.

"Gordon!" Candice says as the two had begun making their way towards the tree, the time to open the presents was now since it was getting late and Joshua was getting more and more impatient. He looks back and Candice points up with a smirk.

_Fuck me,_ he thinks as he sees a mistletoe placed right above them two, and Benrey barks out a laughter as Gordon's face flushes. He pulls Gordon down to his height and presses a kiss right to his lips, earning a loud 'whoop!' from Candice and Audra. Then they break apart and Gordon reminds him to "keep it PG."

They finally settle down and everyone takes their seats, Benrey on the floor inbetween Gordon's legs and Joshua right next to him, Tommy on the other side with Sunkist and both Bubby and Coomer sitting next to Gordon, with Audra and Candice sharing the smaller couch.

Joshua gets clothing, some games, a toy dog that speaks, which he's really excited about. "It _talks!_ " He had yelled when he pushed a button it, and it waddled around then barked something.

Bubby got Gordon a weird, obscure mug, he got Coomer a new blender which earned him a kiss, Tommy got some dog toys from both Coomer and Bubby for Sunkist, and got some weird sciencey things for Darnold. All of the science team explain that they didn't get Audra and Candice something, but they don't take offense since they didn't even know they'd be here.

Everyone continues trading gifts and they all fit the person they're getting for, Sunkist is pretty happy with her new chew-toy, and Benrey managed to get Tommy a lifetime supply of Soda. Then, when Gordon's opening his gift from Benrey, he stares at it, confused. It's two matching couple shirts, and he reads out the text aloud: "I'm... He's? He'm I's? What???"

And then Benrey begins laughing loudly and everyone joins in, leaving Gordon so confused.

"Put it on, put it on!" Coomer tells him, and he sighs as everyone begins to egg him to before both Benrey and Gordon slip into the shirts.

"I feel stupid," Gordon says, and Bubby responds with "You look it, too."

He huffs and hands Benrey his present, "It's not as funny as yours."

"i'll still like it anyway, gords," Benrey responds, before ripping it open with little care for the wrapping that Gordon spent so long on. He pulls out a Pokemon game for the switch, which earns Gordon a pleased grin and then he picks up a ring box. "huh?" He asks, and then Gordon rolls his eyes, "Just open it."

Inside is a pair of matching rings, and Benrey makes a surprised noised that he failed to suppress in his throat, "huh?"

"It's rings for us."

"huh?"

"Oh my god," Gordon grabs Benrey's hand and takes one of the rings and slides it onto his finger, then puts the other one on his own. "See?"

"whuh..." Benrey lets out some Sweet Voice on accident, and Tommy quickly translates it and explains that it means he's happy, which Gordon responds with kissing Benrey. "thanks. it's... i love it," Benrey says sheepishly, and Gordon's heart does almost burst out of his chest with affection.

Maybe they're a weird little pair all in Gordon's living room, but he'd rather not be anywhere else, spending Christmas with his new family.


End file.
